bngi wrote:Hey Aaron, have you taken a step back in the thread to see how far youv'e come along? If not, you should!

Thank you!

I love going back to see where I started and trying to project where I'll be when I graduate in 1.5 years. It's a great reference for me and I hope it serves other students some purpose when they get frustrated at not improving. It has taken me two years to finally just throw ideas on the page somewhat confidently and I hope to see more improvement soon.

I have a lot of people on these boards to thank for spending their time helping me out, so thanks again!

Aaron, I agree with what others have said, great stuff! Especially on those digital ones (black textured + white matte form studies) if you are newer to the digital stuff. It can be a big jump to go from paper to digital but it doesn't look like it was for you ...

It definitely took some getting used to, especially doing the line sketching on photoshop just seems to take longer.

Here's a few from this week:

Air Purifier:

Backpack:

Camera:

Glasses:

Lamp: I blew the perspective and proportion on this sketch!

Overall I'm pretty satisfied how my sketching has progressed, I'm going to continue to strive to improve but I have come to realize how bad my model making skills are. Not necessarily the finished surface modelling type of stuff but the general rough mockups. I never really built anything growing up besides computers and seeing someone like Eman who can make a killer chair or really anything makes me feel weak as a design student. I haven't decided how I'm going to tackle this weakness yet but I'm sure I'll be sharing with the boards when I do!

When I first started I felt it was impossible to gauge how long it took certain people to become great at sketching, most of the work I found from the top Art Center transportation students showed only their best work starting around term 4. Hopefully my progress gives a somewhat accurate representation of how long it took for me to progress and how many thousands of sketches it takes to get there. And there's always more room to improve!

Also, I highly encourage you to post your work here on the boards, it has helped me greatly!

This last semester has been really interesting. I've been really trying to push myself away from the normal way that I sketch. In my studio class I was working in and out of 3D and sketching over a package and also trying to boost my skills in 3D modelling which have been hampering my final executions.

To keep my stress levels in check I've been picking up a pen and sketching anything, and really trying to work on my discipline with lines while using a high flow pen. Here's some of those sketches:

I'm looking forward to sharing some more improvements in my skill-sets!

I wanted to update my post with some stuff from Summer, it's been a bizarre semester.

On the last day of class I was offered an internship at Enlisted and started the next day after. I've learned so much, and I'm sketching and designing more than I've ever been before. The pace is quite fast, but I'm happy to see my strengths and weaknesses come out in a more apparent way. I'll be Full-time at Enlisted for the rest of the Fall and taking a few classes.

Here are some sketches within the past month or two, the main focus for me was to improve my loose ideation sketching as I felt that when I needed to loosen up and be creative I was presenting illegible sketches. I'm glad I focused on this, because it has paid off when working in the studio already.

Lately I've been feeling like I'm missing that aspect of freshness in my work, and most of what I'm putting out is "expected" whether that's just sketches or in my design work. Does anyone have advice on how I can improve this aspect of my skills?

First off, congrats on your internship! Pertaining to your question about staying fresh, I would revisit what first drove you to I.D. What was the spark that ignited your ambition? Sometimes, switching mediums, styles, or making fine art might help. Maybe you have been so busy with I.D. that you forgot your needed happy time, hobbies, that awesome music playlist from several years ago, friend time or a good old fashion nature hike. Ultimately stay hungry and remember the progress you have made. Cheers.

Currently I'm balancing interning and school and I'm taking one of my favorite sketching classes again to sharpen my skills.

We're working on pencil sketches first and then will advance to pen and digital, I'm thinking of mixing mediums as soon as possible. Any scribbles or scratches are marks from the critique.

Here's some week one stuff.. The assignment is plugs and sockets. My goal with this week was to explore shapes and forms without stopping and diving into details and fun compositions.

Week 2: Topic is speakers, the goal here was to have some more dynamic compositions and get looser.

Week 3: Lamps/lighting - goal was to get even looser and have a focal point on the page and use some color to pop things out. I still struggle with using color in an effective manner and I'm hoping to improve for next week.